The Los Angeles Lakers looked like a tired team as they fell behind big to the Dallas Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back.
However, the Lakers made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter before they eventually fell to the Mavericks 104-101.
It was a spirited effort from Los Angeles, who looked dead in the water before they woke up late in the second half to make it a game. The Lakers had a lead late in the fourth, but missed free throws and turnovers ruined the momentum they built.
The Lakers fought all the way back and took the lead late but could not convert on their final few possessions while Kyrie Irving drilled a big triple and then made some free throws to ice the game for Dallas.
After the 3-pointer from Irving that put Dallas up one in the final 20 seconds, L.A. inbounded the ball without calling a timeout. LeBron James was looking for a lob attempt to Anthony Davis but the pass was poor and it wound up being a turnover.
Darvin Ham had two timeouts at his disposal but later explained the decision not to use one in that spot with the game on the line.
“Well, you sometimes you look, you don’t want them to have the opportunity to sub in defensive players,” Ham said. “One-point game, you try to allow the players to take advantage of it on the fly.
“You call the timeout in that situation here, you may drop a great look. But they’re able to make some they’re able to put their you know, above average, slash elite defenders in position to switch now to comfortable with their five from a defensive standpoint. So you try to create a disadvantage and play in the flow. Some people believe in that, some people don’t. I’m one, especially when I have LeBron James, on our team and Austin [Reaves] and AD, DLo, AR those guys like you just have to go for it. And that’s what we did. We decided to do that. I don’t regret it one bit. It just again, didn’t work out.”
To Ham’s point, the Lakers did look like they could have had a decent shot at a look as they got James switched onto Irving.
The process was sound, but the result didn’t go in favor of L.A. While it might be frustrating for fans to see the team squander a win, the positive takeaway is that Ham and the Lakers didn’t fold when they very easily could’ve.
Darvin Ham admits it’s disappointing for comebacks to fall short
Los Angeles has made it a habit to dig themselves in huge holes before climbing back into the game. While Ham can appreciate the team fighting, he admitted it’s still difficult to come up short.
“It’s tough, man, to put yourself behind the eight ball like that with the first three quarters. We could have easily folded, especially after having played the night before last night. But like I told my guys, we don’t believe in moral victories around here. And you know, as I said before starting last year, it’s not just wins and losses, there’s wisdom and lessons. We got a lesson today. The way we buckled down in the fourth quarter and fought back and gave ourselves a chance. That’s what you draw from that game. That’s the lesson you draw from it.
“These first 20 games, we haven’t been home all our parts, that guy’s in and out of a lineup, various injuries at various times. So, playing a game like this against a formidable ballclub like Dallas, two elite first ballot Hall of Famers playing really great basketball right now, you got to have your hands full, but I’m proud of our guys, with the character they showed, the competitive spirit that they showed, stepping up like they did facing a huge deficit and having 12 minutes to try to make something out of it. And we did that. We defended, holding them and 13 points, scored 30 ourselves, but just you know, couldn’t quite make enough plays. So we came up a little short. But at the end of the day, it’s disappointing, but not discouraged. And I like what I saw, particularly in that fourth quarter.”
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